Cheesycake

For whatever reason as I grew up, I always looked at cheesecake as this unbelievably complicated dessert. Couldn't imagine anyone making it at home unless they were gifted or had some super power. Maybe because I was so used to having regular cake that cheesecake seemed so fancy. So creamy. I was of the mindset that you had to be a baking genius to make it. Eh. Not so much I've learned.

Hubby and I are big fans of cheesecake. Mostly that of the red velvet cheesecake variety a la Cheesecake Factory. I have yet to try and make it at home, but it's on the list. HUGE fans of red velvet. It was our wedding cake for crying out loud, and I've made whoopie pies of the flavor, too. I know a lot of people diss it, but I find it super yummo. Anyways, while it's on my list, we've dove into several other flavors at home, and I am happy to report it is not difficult at all to make. Awesome news for the ten-year-old in me.

I believe our first attempt was a peppermint cheesecake during the holidays in 2010. I wish I had a picture, but I think the only one we took was on Hubby's phone. Gahhhh! It was delicious I can tell you that much. I put peppermint extract in the cake and crushed peppermint candies on the top. Not only was it yummo, it was pretty cool and festive looking, too. Since I don't have proof of its existence, we'll move on to my banana cheesecake!

Hubby and I were headed to see some of his VA family earlier this year, and we volunteered to bring dessert. Cheesecake seems to be a common love of most American dessert-eaters, so we opted for a fruity variety. The only one in our house who doesn't like bananas is Elliot. Seriously, every time one is peeled, he jumps up on us out of curiosity, gets close to take a whiff, and backs away all disgusted. He's a real picky eater ;) 

This one was really creamy and pretty darn good. My only issue was that by the time we got it to the gathering, the bananas were turning slightly brown. I didn't think to throw some lime juice on them to keep them colored, but I'll know that for next time. I'm particularly proud of the presentation. Didn't take long, but the visual aesthetic really made the dessert pop! Oh- my other qualm was the graham cracker crust. Not a huge fan of it. I prefer a chocolate crust but gotta please your public.

Next was marble-flavored. Hubby and I were craving cheesecake but didn't want to get too liberal with flavors. I LOVE chocolate in my desserts (have I mentioned that a million times yet? Well, yep. I do), but he needs it in moderation. So we compromised. I decided on melting chocolate in a double boiler and swirled it through the cheesecake batter to make a delectable looking yummy. I remember this being a really good compromise rather than a straight chocolate cheesecake (which I still intend on doing some day). 

My cheesecakes always, always break in the middle when in the oven no matter how much I alter the cook time. Maybe it was the oven in our old apartment. I'll have to try out our new one and see what happens.

What's next? I need to make my grandmom's chocolate, chocolate chip cheesecake brownies. I remember eating a dozen of those in a sitting. SO FREAKING GOOD! However, that would require finding a successful recipe for fudgy, homemade brownies. I've tried two from-scratch recipes and one batch turned out super flat and dry while the other turned out better, but more cake-like. Gahh. If anyone has a good homemade brownie recipe, feel free to pass it on.